North DeKalb Mall Owners Plan To Tear It Down, Start Over

DECATUR, GA — The owners of fading North DeKalb Mall in Decatur plan to tear the retail center down and start all over with a massive development that would include stores like Costco, a hotel, restaurants and housing.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that an attorney for Sterling Organization, which owns the mall on Lawrenceville Highway, said the whole structure is coming down. In its place, attorney Kathryn Zickert told the paper, will be a mixed-use development.

Some current mall tenants, like the AMC movie theater and Burlington Coat factory, are expected to stay at the new development, she said.

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Before any demolition begins, Sterling must go through a lengthy application process with DeKalb County and the Atlanta Regional Commission. That process likely won’t be complete before the end of 2018, she said.

Once prominent in the area, the mall has slowly faded over the years to a point where it is now home to many empty storefronts. The loss two years ago of Macy’s — once a centerpiece store at the mall — was a major blow, the AJC notes.